Nigel-I South Beached for a long time, really helped me but I know I need a detox, so I'm doing a 21 day cleanse by Kris Carr - it's vegan and low glycemic. So yes, now I am eating beans. On SB I would have maybe 1/3c. in my chili, here in vegetarian chili I'm having about 3/4 c.

Thanks ya'll. I've started eating pinto beans a couple of times per week. They seem to fill me up pretty good.

I am going to start experimenting with other types of beans...I've never been much of a bean eater except for green beans and occasionally pinto beans, but I read that eating beans helps to keep your blood sugar more leveled out, so I figure it's worth a bigger effort on my part.

I have always loved beans, partly because they are cheap and handy. I like to make bean patties with veggies in the food processor, bean spreads, lentil soup, spicy dal, and on and on. Since I'm at the VLC end of the low-carb plan right this minute (and for another few weeks, probably) I have limited the beans to a half cup (dry) navy beans added to a huge pot of mushroom and kale soup. It just seemed so sad to have kale with no white beans! If you count tofu as beans, then I'm eating that now, and I also keep those dried toasted soy nuts around in case I need to pack emergency rations for a trip somewhere. Once I reach maintenance I plan to include as much in the way of beans as my body can handle, along with a modest amount of unprocessed grains, because I don't want to spend my life taking supplements for that problem that beans solve so nicely.

I haven't been eating them much since I started cutting carbs, but I think I can get away with it. I realize I can get away with up to 50 carbs in a meal, so I can start eating them again. I like kidneys, garbanzos, black beans, and Great Northerns the best. I will use lentils, too. I always liked black-eyed peas when I was a child, but for some reason I never think to buy them now. I should; I'm half southerner!

I have been having 1 c beans and 1/2 c brown rice at breakfast with alsa and a piece of fruit. Very satisfying. Or I change it up with 1/2 c beans with an egg on top. I also sprinkle nutritional yeast over it too.

I cook a big kettle of beans, two bags at a time for me and DH. It lasts two weeks. I usually mix the beans and will have a bag of lima and bag of kidney beans together. This week we did pink beans and navy beans. Next week he wants black beans and lima beans. He loves lima beans. I have also cooked up lentils. He uses them on his sandwiches like a spread instead of hummus. I have cooked garbanzo beans. And want to try adzuki beans. With a little stevia and rice, it can be a dessert. Beans are cheap and satisfying. We stay away from canned beans. Those are expensive.

I am cooking garbanzo beans this weekend. I have begun eating small amounts of pasta and potatoes that have been cooled after cooking to make resistant starch. I will cool the beans after cooking before adding them to recipes.

I am cooking garbanzo beans this weekend. I have begun eating small amounts of pasta and potatoes that have been cooled after cooking to make resistant starch. I will cool the beans after cooking before adding them to recipes.

I have been adding a tbs of Bob's Red Mill unmodified potato starch to smoothies and juices daily. Its easy to use and inexpensive if you are watching carbs its a nice replacement.

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start 12-9-12
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1 point for every 10 minutes

Nigel have you ever made the 15 bean soup? You should be able to buy it in the dry bean section of your grocery store. It comes with a seasoning packet. I made a crock pot full of that, used 2 cartons of veg broth and added some creole seasoning to make it spicy along with the packet it came with. Threw it in a crock pot on low and it was ready when I got home. Ate a 1/2 of a cup over some quinoa tonight, very good!!

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start 12-9-12
490/1100
1 point for every 10 minutes

I made some white "chicken" chili yesterday with great northern beans. I picked them simply because they have less carb than navy beans or cannellini beans (which the recipe actually called for). I have some navy beans in the freezer that will probably end up as a soup with bay, "ham" flavor, garlic, onion. It's cold in Wisconsin, and I do soups all season long.

A pressure cooker is a wonderful utensil for cooking beans. I still have a small aeturnum from my macrobiotic days.

I always soak beans, even lentils. The pressure cooker reduces cooking time dramatically and really softens the longer cooking varieties. Soaking makes for a more evenly cooked bean and, rumor has it, it reduces the possibility of gas.

I still buy some canned bean and always have canned chic peas on hand purchasing the case of organic ones at Costco.
They are fabulous in salads and smashed in sandwich spreads. Hummus, of course, and the varieties of hummus are never ending.
I just bookmarked a recipe for chocolate hummus.

Cuban black beans are a fav in this house and I usually make a soup of it. Leftover beans can make a lovely salad with corn, peppers, onion and seasonings.

We are huge fans of Mediterranean flavors and use a lot of Greek type mixtures which include tomatoes, onion, garlic, oregano and pepper flakes.....maybe eggplant, peppers, cauliflower, turnips if I have some.

I grew up in the south and kidney beans were a common addition to spaghetti sauce in school lunch (those were the days). Lentils work great in pasta sauce, as well.

I don't know if there's a bean I don't love and I use them for my starch/protein rather than using starches alone. They are more nutrient dense and if I have to make a choice, it's going to beans instead of rice/potato, etc.

I try to include some beans daily. That's another reason the chic pea and red lentil bread comes in handy. At times I'm just eating the vegies that hubs has on the side and I need something more substantial. Or I can pile stuff on top.

Red lentils are simply the brown/green variety with the skin removed. They take less than 1/2 hr to cook and break down to mushy like a split pea.
They are commonly used for curries and dals for these reasons.

We have a favorite soup;
Saute some garlic, onion, carrots and red pepper flakes and a tsp or 2 or cumin. Add 1-2 cups of red lentils and a can of diced tomatoes along with 4-5 cups of water. When carrots and lentils are done, add a can of coconut milk, salt and pepper. Squeeze some lemon in. Heat gently another 10 minutes or so.

Oh and I usually don't like lite coconut milk but Trader Joe's is good and it's .99.

Curry is easy; just sautee up some curry in oil/ghee, add the red lentils and stock/water. Cook and season. Eat.
Any other ingredients are optional.
Cumin and red lentils are a perfect combo, too.

Thank you so much for the recipes.
I have lots of coconut milk...can get it for $1 at the dollar tree here and we recently re-organized our pantry and I have about 8 cans of it, so I need to use them up anyway.
I will try your recipe for cooking the lentils soon. Thanks again.